Childbirth

When you are ready to have your baby, you'll go through labor. Contractions let you know labor is starting. When contractions are five minutes apart, your body is ready to push the baby out. During the first stage of labor, your cervix slowly opens, or dilates, to about 4 inches wide. At the same time, it becomes thinner. This is called effacement. You shouldn't push until your uterus is fully effaced and dilated. When it is, the baby delivery stage starts. Crowning is when your baby's scalp comes into view. Shortly afterward, your baby is born. The placenta that nourished the baby follows.

Breeched Birth: Caesarean Section or Vaginal Delivery?

Breech presentation is common in about 15% of pregnancies at 29 to 32 weeks.

Natural Childbirth

What is a Transverse Baby?

Anal Sphincter Injury During Childbirth

Active management of the third stage of labor

Heel Prick Test / Guthrie Test

Lithotomy Positioning

Evidence for Having a Water Birth

Water Birth Safety

What Happens When your Waters Break?

Assisted Birth: Forceps or Vacuum Delivery

Benefits and Risks of Forceps (Ventouse) Delivery

See more featured articles »

What do Contractions Feel Like?

Signs Labor Has Begun

Complications of the third stage of labor

Making a Birth Plan

How to Relieve Pain During Labor

The External Cephalic Version Process

Latest Childbirth News and Research

$12.5 million study aims to improve postpartum blood pressure management

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania are launching a $12.5 million study to improve postpartum blood pressure management and long-term cardiovascular health for patients with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy.

16 Dec 2024

Genetic insights into reproductive health and longevity

Led by researchers from the University of Oxford's Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and the University of Iceland, the review explores how genetic variations can explain differences in reproductive health and longevity.

14 Dec 2024

New hepatitis B vaccine offers superior protection for people with HIV

A newer vaccine against hepatitis B virus was clearly superior to an older vaccine type in inducing a protective antibody response among people living with HIV who didn't respond to prior vaccination, according to the results of an international study led by a Weill Cornell Medicine investigator.

11 Dec 2024

Herpes infections affect 846 million people worldwide

Around 846 million people aged between 15 and 49 are living with genital herpes infections – more than 1 in 5 of this age-group globally – according to new estimates released today.

11 Dec 2024

Study reveals brain structure differences in women with peripartum depression

Researchers have identified structural grey matter differences in the brains of women with a history of peripartum depression and those without within a group of major depressive disorder patients.

6 Dec 2024

Women with infertility have higher risk of developing systemic autoimmune diseases

Women who experience infertility but do not use fertility treatments have a higher risk of developing a group of conditions called systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD) in the nine years after a naturally conceived birth compared to women without fertility problems.

4 Dec 2024

Study reveals physical and mental effects of unintended pregnancies on mothers

By taking data prior to birth into account, a study by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) used a novel way to analyze the physical and mental effects that unintended pregnancies have on mothers.

29 Nov 2024

New oral painkiller developed for chronic abdominal pain

University of Queensland researchers have developed a new class of oral painkillers to suppress chronic abdominal pain that is based on the peptide hormone oxytocin that drives childbirth contractions.

18 Nov 2024

AI-based ultrasound software guides childbirth decisions with high accuracy

A new AI-based software has been developed that can be integrated with an ultrasound device to 'guide' childbirth by providing precise, real-time information on the baby's head position.

11 Nov 2024

Heat exposure significantly heightens risks for maternal and newborn health

The study reveals that heat exposure increases health risks for pregnant women and their babies, impacting outcomes like preterm birth, low birth weight, and hypertensive disorders.

10 Nov 2024

Preeclampsia and COVID-19 share pathophysiological similarities in pregnant women

During the COVID-19 pandemic, above all before vaccines were available, an alarm was sounded regarding a possible correlation between severe cases of COVID-19 in pregnant women and preeclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure (hypertension) in the expectant mother and high levels of protein in her urine (proteinuria). It can entail dangerous complications for mother and baby.

7 Nov 2024

Study examines impact of birthing positions on maternal satisfaction

Whether lying on their back, all-fours position, sitting upright or squatting - women adopt different birthing positions during childbirth.

4 Nov 2024

Concussion history identified as key risk factor for maternal mental illness

People with a history of concussion face a 25% higher risk of having severe mental health issues after childbirth, according to a new study from ICES and the University of Toronto.

4 Nov 2024

Study reveals gaps in interconception care for Australian mothers

Some Australian mothers regard navigating their personal health care in between pregnancies as confusing, inconsistent, and hard to access, new research by a Monash University-led team has found.

4 Nov 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The campaign's final days

With the 2024 election campaign in its final days, House Speaker Mike Johnson this week floated "massive" health care reform if former President Donald Trump wins — changes that are also dependent, of course, on whether Republicans control Congress next year.

1 Nov 2024